Wichita State University Tech officials updated the Sedgwick County Commission on Oct. 15 about record enrollment, new programs and a major building under construction they say will expand career training in aviation, manufacturing, healthcare and information technology.

The update came from Dr. Sherry Utash, WSU Tech chief executive, who told commissioners the combined enrollment with Wichita State University recently topped 25,000 students and that WSU Tech’s own head count this year exceeded 6,700 students. ‘‘This is our largest enrollment in history,’’ Utash said, noting 11 consecutive years of enrollment growth and a recent cohort of certificate and degree programs that she said are in high demand.

Utash said new and expanding programs include electrical technology, mobile equipment, a mental health technician program, expanded pilot training (including a new multi-engine plane arriving Nov. 6) and growth in automotive, welding, culinary and heating/air conditioning (marketed as Climate and Energy Control).

She credited the Kansas Promise scholarship and state Excel/CTE funding with helping students—‘‘426 students are on the Kansas Promise scholarship receiving over $2,000,000 in scholarship funds,’’ she said—adding that many WSU Tech students are first-generation college students or Pell eligible. ‘‘Sixty-six percent of our students are first generation and 69% are Pell eligible,’’ Utash said, describing the scholarships as a key factor in enrollment and access.

Utash highlighted WSU Tech’s ‘‘future ready centers,’’ partnerships with USD 259 that place career-focused programs in high schools and WSU Tech locations. She said the centers have converted 527 recent high school graduates into full-time WSU Tech students and serve roughly 400 students in Future Ready programming; WSU Tech is opening a new IT/cybersecurity Future Ready center at WSU South with a ribbon-cutting planned for Oct. 16.

Construction updates included a new building tied to aviation and advanced manufacturing. Utash said the facility broke ground in August, opened for construction work on infrastructure with airport authority support, and is expected to be complete in January 2027; she estimated the building will accommodate an additional 1,400–1,500 students and include robotics, automation and biomedical training.

Commissioners asked about how WSU Tech connects to local employers and workforce pipelines. Utash said every WSU Tech graduate has access to a direct pipeline to a baccalaureate degree at Wichita State University, and she emphasized employer commitments: ‘‘When you have Textron saying that we will hire every single one of these kids, we will hire them all,’’ she said, citing employer demand for graduates of advanced manufacturing and aviation programs.

Background materials the college provided to commissioners included outcome measures Utash described as a ‘‘report card’’—retention near 80%, course success around 90% (C or better), an 89.1% placement rate for recent graduates in-state, and a record graduating class of 1,743 last May.

The commission voted to receive and file the WSU Tech update.

Dr. Utash and WSU Tech officials stressed that the affiliation with Wichita State University, state scholarship programs and employer partnerships are central to the college’s growth and to efforts they said will expand job-ready talent in Sedgwick County.